A visit to the dark side

Growing up, I never imagined I would become a camper.  I always imagined myself as a fabulous resort hopping globe trotter like all those fancy rich people on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.  It turns out I am kind of a snotty tent camper.  I don't really enjoy people or their noise when I am bird stalking and hiking.  But sometimes tent camping just isn't the best.  Like when it rains or in the Texas summer heat.  Tent camping here is limited by weather to 2 (3 if you have cold weather gear) seasons.  Those seasons also happen to be the rainiest seasons.  So when my RV traveling friend offered us a site at Inks Lake State Park over Easter weekend, I faced a dilemma.  Do we chance the possible spring rain and guaranteed RV loop noise or miss out on the gorgeous flowers, lake, hiking, friends, and hard to get into campground?  After much discussion it was decided to rent an RV.  Oh the glamping side of camping is a slippery slope.  Would we ever get the kids back in a tent after they experience a convenient middle of the night bathroom and A/C?
We arrived after a delicious meal of Whataburger and checked into our site.  Set up was really easy, much easier than in the tent.  Packing had been easier too with no cooler, tent, sleeping bags, or air pads needed.  Agg, trying so hard to not like it.
We enjoyed 2 full days of kayaking, hiking, the bird blind, and relaxing.  Inks is close enough to our house that we can go for the day, but far enough to feel like we have gotten away.  The Spring Creek trail was gorgeous with spring flowers.  We swam in the waterfall and took kayaks to Devils Waterhole.  Patrick even jumped the cliffs for the first time.  Shawn caught a bass and we cooked it along with our tilapia from home.  We watched a pair of green herons nest in the tree next to our site.  There was even an Easter Egg hunt for the kids Saturday morning.  They were not the only tweens out there in shorts and flip flops running for plastic eggs.
We have decided that tent camping is still awesome for most places.  But an RV will allow us to summer camp at lakes and beaches and winter camp in Palo Duro or Big Bend.  

Red Rock Canyon, NV

Shawn had a conference in Vegas back in February.  We were looking for a do-over from our anniversary trip (this time with no stomach bug please) so I came along too.  Vegas is glittery, loud, and somewhat amusing, but I knew it was probably not going to be my thing.  So we reserved a rental car to go out to the Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon.  The dam was pretty dam cool.  It had a dam good view.  We went on the dam tour and told endless dam jokes.  It was dam pretty.  Then we headed back towards Vegas to go to Red Rock Canyon.  We hiked the Calico Tanks trail and were rewarded with an amazing view at the end.  The rocks were the most amazing colors and it is hard to do it justice in pictures.  This park is the reason I want to go back to Vegas.